


Cuffs and Consequences

by acoolusername



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8940160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acoolusername/pseuds/acoolusername
Summary: In an attempt to make certain aspects of their relationship easier, Lena accidentally exposes Kara to Red Kryptonite.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I like to count this as a follow-up to my first Supercorp fic, "One and the Same", but it can be read separately as well.
> 
> Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Lena Luthor had achieved much in her life.

She was raised to strive for the best. Not _her_ best, _the_ best. Lionel Luthor had complimented her grades, and shown interest in her projects for school and science fairs, but the pride had never been there. Lena had always seemed to pull up short. Her mother had been no different.

So now, as an adult who made her own happiness, and told her she was proud of herself, Lena would concede that she had many accomplishments. But, like anyone else, there were certain ones that always stood out.

For Lena, in no particular order, she had a top three.

One – keeping her composure during Lex’s most recent, and final trial, and only allowing herself to cry when she was back in her hotel room.

Another, was transforming the Luthor name into something respectable. Lex had left a hell of a mess behind. The sheer enormity of what Lena knew would be ahead to transform LuthorCorp had almost been too much. But she had been raised to be the best, after all. And she was determined to make not just the company, but the Luthor name, into something better. And now, after months and months of hard work, Lena felt she had finally gotten then.

Lastly, and most recently, was how she could make Kara Danvers come so hard, she broke furniture.

Nothing turned Lena on more than this.

Well, almost nothing.

Sometimes it didn’t even need to get that far for something to snap, or smash, or bend. Like on this one particular afternoon, when Lena’s lips were pursed against the base of Kara’s neck, and she had one hand in her long, blonde hair, and other tracing suggestive circles on the inside of her upper thigh.

Kara’s chest was heaving, breathing hard. When Lena looked up, her eyes were squeezed shut like always. She was trying so hard. And Lena knew she shouldn’t, it was pretty unfair, but she couldn’t help herself. She began dragging her fingers upward, ever so slowly…

 _Crack_.

The edge of the table, the side Kara had been gripping for dear life, snapped away completely. Kara groaned, wiggled away slightly from Lena and held the wood up to show her.

“Darn it,’ Kara groaned. ‘Not again.”

Lena just laughed and kissed her again. “It’s okay.”

“This is the third desk I’ve broken!”

“Better the desk than my arm.’

Kara pulled back and gave her a stern look. Despite the expression, Lena struggled to take her seriously. Her hair was messed, her pupils dilated, her lips swollen and parted as she tried to recover her breath.

“ _Lena_ ,’ Kara urged, ‘that’s not funny.”

Lena sighed and, reluctantly, stepped back to let Kara have some space. Lena took the opportunity to fix her hair back into something that, she hoped, resembled the perfect bun it had been in before Kara had arrived twenty minutes earlier.

As Kara smoothed out her skirt and tried to make herself look presentable too, Lena said, ‘I know you won’t hurt me.”

“But I _could_.”

“But you _wont_ ,’ Lena insisted.

Kara just shook her head as she looked at the broken piece of table in her hand. “At least it wasn’t the glass one this time. I still don’t know how you managed to explain that away.”

Lena smiled to herself, remembering the time perfectly; Kara had stopped by the office for another article (apparently Snapper Carr was now more than happy to capitalize on Kara’s apparent friendship with Lena) and Lena hadn’t been able to help herself, and Kara had only managed a few whispered “it’s your office!” and “what if someone walks in?” before returning the kisses, and letting Lena back her up against the desk.

Lena had not been expecting the simple act of nudging her knee between Kara’s to cause her to flinch so hard, that she flung her arm back and smashed the desk to smithereens.

Kara had been utterly humiliated. Lena just remembered how amazing it had felt to have someone so powerful, be complete putty in her hands.

After that day, physical intimacy was something they had had to have a talk about. Looking at the expression on Kara’s face now, seeing the little crinkle in her brow as she knelt down and tried to fit the broken piece back onto the table, Lena could see they were about to talk about it again.

“Don’t bother, I’ll get someone in to fix it.”

“Don’t they ask how the desk keeps breaking?’

“I doubt they have the guts,’ Lena smirked.

Kara sighed. “I’m thought I had a handle on it. But I… react to you more than I thought I would.”

Lena felt a thrill run up her spine.

“You know,’ she started softly, taking a step forward, ‘I’ve been working on something to help. With this.”

Kara looked around. “What do you mean?’

Lena half-sat on the edge of the table beside her. “Look, we’re grown women, right? And we’re in this… thing…’ she waved a hand around, trying to act blasé, but supressing yet again the urge to say words like _relationship_ or _girlfriend_. ‘And I _know_ you want to do to me, what I can do to you.”

A magnificent tinge of pink flushed across Kara’s cheeks. She adjusted her glasses and got to her feet.

“Well… I mean…”

“But you won’t,’ Lena continued, smothering a smile, ‘because you’re worried you’ll hurt me. And it’s okay. I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty. You have your reasons for holding back, and I completely understand.”

It really didn’t matter anyway, Lena mused. Thus far, they had found more than satisfactory ways around Kara’s reluctance to touch Lena too much. Lena was more than content to go slow with Kara; she was so good at kissing, that when they would make out on Kara’s couch, or Lena’s bed, Lena would often forget about everything else.

Kara smirked, and looked down at the floor bashfully, and Lena knew she was thinking the same thing.

“But what if there was a way to supress your powers?’ Lena continued. ‘Just a little. Just enough. That way you wouldn’t have to concentrate and worry so much all the time. You could just let go.”

“You could do that?’ Kara frowned.

Lena shrugged. “Like I said, I’m working on it. But only if you’re open to it. I don’t want to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.”

An odd look crossed Kara’s features suddenly.

“What?’ Lena laughed.

“Nothing!’ Kara said quickly. When Lena just raised her eyebrows at her, Kara chuckled nervously. ‘It just sounds a little… kinky,’ she whispered the last word.

“And what’s wrong with that?’ Lena challenged with a sultry look.

Kara just smiled as Lena leant in for another kiss. She was millimetres away from closing the distance, when the phone rang.

Lena sighed and rested her forehead against Kara’s. “I have to take that. I’ve been expecting a call from Tokyo all day.”

Kara stroked her cheek, and gave her a quick kiss. “I should probably go too. I need to get back to the DEO. I’ll call you later.”

Lena sat herself back down at her desk as Kara collected her bag, slung it over her shoulder and walked out of the office, stopping for a moment to throw one last smile over her shoulder.

With a sigh, Lena answered the phone. “Moshi moshi, Doctor Iwakura. Thank you for getting back to me. How is our shipment going?”

 

\----- 

 

Kara often worked late. Rogue aliens didn’t really keep to a schedule. And Lena always expected a text from Kara before they went to bed. So Lena stayed up.

But the hours ticked by, and it was almost two in the morning when Lena conceded defeat, sent a quick text of I hope you’re okay, and dragged herself off to bed. Her shoulders had been aching, the usual side effect from being hunched over her desk or lab bench all day. The instant her back hit the mattress, every muscle seemed to uncurl. Lena sighed long and loud. It was utter bliss, and she only managed to kick off her shoes, and peel off her dress, before crawling up and curling into the pillows.

Her fatigue didn’t take long to engulf her. All too soon, Lena was snoozing, stuck in that glorious, weightless moment of being asleep and awake; a place she didn’t have to worry about business, or numbers, or employees, or anything.

The heavy feeling became overwhelming, and her eyelids felt like lead, and she couldn’t wait to surrender to it.

When she heard a soft whisp of movement at her open window, it took a long moment to process what was happening. When she felt cool fingers brush hair out of her face, she moaned and dragged her eyes open.

The room was still dark, and the figure in front of her was blurred, but only one person had that silhouette.

“Sorry,’ Kara whispered, taking a step back. ‘I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll let you sleep.”

“Mmmmno…”

Lena reached out and, somehow, grabbed the edge of Kara’s cape. She tugged on it limply. Kara chuckled softly, and then floated down softly onto the bed. She lay on her side, facing Lena.

“S’late,’ Lena mumbled. ‘Wha’ you doin’…”

“I was just on my way home from work.’

“Everythin’ ‘kay?’

“It is now.”

Lena shuffled closer, until their foreheads and knees were touching. She reached out and put an arm around Kara. She could smell the night air in her hair; feel a slight sheen of condensation on her cape and thought that she must have been flying up pretty high.

“Stay,’ Lena whispered.

She felt Kara stroke her hair again. “I’m not going anywhere.”

When Lena woke up the next morning, Kara was still there; still dressed in her Supergirl suit. Kara was still asleep, lips parted slightly, emitting slow, soft snores.

Lena was almost sure that seeing Kara in the throes of ecstasy was the greatest sight she had ever laid eyes on. But if there was something that would rival it, this would be it.

 

\------ 

 

Lena wasn’t intimidated by many people.

She was the head of a global empire after all. And she’d stood up to enough people on her way to the top to know her worth, know her place, and not feel unsettled under the gaze of anyone less than her.

Except for Alex Danvers.

Not that she was doing anything intimidating in particular. Kara had invited Lena over to her apartment for take-out and games night. Lena had not been aware, upon accepting this invitation (thinking that games night was a euphemism) that Kara had actually been quite serious, and that she wasn’t the only one invited. When Lena had arrived, thinking she would be “fashionably late” to build up some tension, she had been unsettled by the sight of so many people already there.

When Kara let her in, beaming at her as usual, Lena had had to rearrange her features quickly back to neutral as she noticed the first three people. There was a man about her own height, who she recognised as Mike from CatCo, Kara’s intern friend. Tall, handsome James Olsen, was stooped over and handing someone under the sink a wrench.

“Kara, y’know, not that I’m not willing to help… I am, as well all know, amazing at everything…’ came a voice Lena vaguely recognized, ‘but you could have fixed this in no time. It was just a loose bolt.”

“Winn,’ Kara said loudly, meaningfully. ‘You remember my friend, Lena?’

The man who emerged was the one, Lena recognised, as the one who had helped her with the EMP bomb at her charity a few months prior. He quickly got to his feet, wiped his hands on James’s shirt, and held a hand our eagerly for her. James and Mike followed suit. Lena tried not to wince under the very firm handshake she received from Mike.

In hindsight, it was ridiculous to think Kara wouldn’t have invited other people, especially her sister. They were so close, and did everything together – even fight aliens.

So when Lena glanced over at the other couch now, to see Alex lounging about beside her girlfriend, Detective Maggie Sawyer, and play-fighting with her over a bottle of beer that was clearly just an excuse to rile each other up, Lena mused how much of an idiot she had been to expect anything else.

This was Kara, after all.

“Right!’ announced the girl in question. Kara bounced back into the living room, her arms piled up with board and card games. ‘Guests get to pick! But I have to warn you that I’m the best at Hungry Hungry Hippos, so challenge me at this game at your own peril.”

“Hungry what?’ Mike asked, looking confused.

“I’m definitely no good at poker,’ Alex said seriously.

“Uh-huh,’ Maggie quirked an eyebrow. ‘I bet you’re as bad at poker as you are at pool, am I right?’

“What an excellent deduction, Detective,’ Alex said. There was a hint of a smirk, twitching at the corner of her mouth.

“Battleship?’ James suggested.

“That’s not fair, Kara can see… er, your poker face.’ Win trailed off weakly, rubbing the back of his head.

Lena felt eyes on her. She didn’t glance back at Alex, just raised her eyebrows to suggest her confusion.

Kara adjusted her glasses and frowned at Winn. “How dare you. I would never look at someone’s… poker face.”

“Isn’t that the whole point, though?’ Maggie chuckled.

“What’s a battleship?’ asked Mike.

Alex cleared her throat loudly. Lena chanced a glance at her. By doing this, she could deduct two things: that Maggie was the only one who didn’t know about Kara, and that Alex still didn’t know that Lena did.

“Monopoly?’ Lena suggested.

Winn laughed loudly. “Against the ultimate business woman of National City? No thanks! I’d like to leave with some dignity, not to mention friendships, intact.”

Everyone laughed. Lena smiled, feeling herself relax a little in everyone’s smiles, and the feeling of Kara’s knee casually resting against hers as she sat herself down on the couch beside her.

Finally, after a few more playful arguments about games such as Risk, and Clue (“Maggie’s a detective! No-one else will stand a chance!”), they settled on Go Fish, content to just keep their hands busy while they passed around comfortable chatter.

Lena definitely felt like the new girl. Even though Maggie had never been to a games night either, she was already clearly comfortable around these people. Or maybe that was just how she went through life, Lena couldn’t really tell. From the casual way she shrugged off her leather jacket and leant back into the couch, resting her beer on her belt buckle, Lena could assume she never worried about anything.

But Kara made sure to include her in conversation, asked her opinion on things, and tried to get her chatting to people with details she thought both people would enjoy. Lena found a kinship in James, as they both compared how stressful it had been to take the step up into already giant shoes, to try and keep a company afloat. Winn had enough geekiness in him to understand the answers she gave him, when he asked about their new projects at L-Corp. Mike complimented her on throwing an excellent party, despite the fact it had been gate crashed. Even Maggie got a few quips in here and there, responding happily when Lena mentioned she was interested in investing some time into developing specialized armour for the police department, in light of all the new alien weapons that were appearing on the black market.

Alex didn’t say much to her at all.

She wasn’t rude. Alex asked her polite questions, and laughed courteously at Lena’s attempt at humour. But Lena could always feel eyes on her. Quite a few times Lena looked up from her cards, and even though Alex wasn’t looking, Lena got the distinct feeling she was under scrutiny all the same.

“Don’t be silly,’ Kara whispered to her, later, when she shared this concern. Lena had asked to be shown where the bathroom was, and Kara had walked her there, ducking in quickly after her and shutting the door. ‘She likes you.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. ‘I think otherwise.”

“Alex is just… protective.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“She’s cautious around new people. Our life isn’t exactly conventional. Even Maggie doesn’t know about me yet. Alex is waiting for the right time to tell her, I told her she could.”

“And when is the right time to tell Alex about me?’

Kara straightened up. Lena knew she could tell that her question hadn’t just been about the fact that she knew the “Super Secret”.

Despite these moments, where Lena felt awkward around Alex, or had to resist the urge to put a hand on Kara’s thigh or tuck stray stands of hair behind her ear, the evening was actually quite fun. It reminded Lena of boarding school, when the girls in her dormitory would all sneak into the basement and smoke cigarettes and drink cheap wine and bitch about the professors. It was nothing like all those fancy dinners and social engagements Lena had to make appearances at. Here she could slump her shoulders, and lower her defiant chin, and just be.

Mike was the first to leave, announcing he had to get to work at the bar. Winn and James left together just after ten, after James’s phone had buzzed, apparently requiring his attention at the office. Both men shook her hand, saying how nice it was to meet Lena again, before rushing out the door.

“It is getting pretty late,’ Maggie remarked, stretching her arms up above her head. ‘Sorry Kara, didn’t realize. Time really flies when you’re playing board games, huh?’

Kara smiled, hugged Maggie, and then made to hug Alex goodbye. But Alex, her hands shoved deep in her pockets, glanced at Lena again.

“Actually, I was going to stay and help clean up.”

“Alex, don’t be silly,’ Kara laughed. ‘I can do it. You two go.”

Lena looked at Alex from her position on the couch, knowing her relaxed posture was a clear intention of her sticking around a bit longer. Alex pursed her lips, and looked like she wanted to say something else.

“Babe,’ Maggie took Alex softly by the elbow.

Alex blinked, looked around at Maggie, and her expression softened. She hugged Kara tightly, whispered something in her ear, and then let Maggie take her hand and lead her toward the door.

“It was nice to see you again, Lena,’ she called.

Lena jerked her chin upward, and flashed Alex her most charming smile. “You too.”

Both women left, and Kara let out a very long sigh. She took off her glasses, tossed them onto the bench and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“That went well,’ Lena smirked.

Kara opened her eyes, looked at Lena, and laughed weakly. She crossed back to the couch, and without hesitating, wrapped her arms around Lena’s shoulders. Lena pursed her lips, trying not to smile too widely.

Lena was about to make suggestions of late night ice-cream, but didn’t get the chance. Kara’s phone buzzed on the coffee table.

With upper reflexes, Kara pulled away and reached for her phone. She answered it, muttered a few “hmm’s” and “uh-huh’s” to the person at the other end of the line, before hanging up.

Kara looked at Lena with a pained expression. Lena got to her feet, pulling Kara up with her.

“It’s okay,’ she smiled, ‘just go.”

“But…”

“I’ll call Arnold. I should probably go home anyway.’ Lena snaked her hands down Kara’s sides, and let them come to rest on her waist. ‘I have some numbers to run over, and you’re a distraction I just don’t need.”

Kara sighed again. “I’m sorry. I swear, one night….”

“I know.”

Lena leant in and gave her a quick, chaste kiss as she undid the top three buttons of Kara’s shirt. The blue suit, and edge of the ‘ _S’_ broke free.

“Go get ‘em,’ Lena smirked.

 

\----- 

 

Lena was down in the lab, when the intercom above announced;

_Miss Luthor, call for you on line three…_

Lena sighed, and reluctantly handed the soldering iron to the nearest lab assistant that was hovering over her shoulder. “Keep working on that.”

The phone was flashing in the adjacent room. Lena took off her safety goggles and gloves before picking up the receiver, and wedging it between her ear and her shoulder.

“Hello?’

“Hi,’ came the familiar voice of Kara Danvers.

Lena’s irritation of being interrupted dissolved. “Are you psychic as well as super?’

“What are you talking about?’ Kara laughed.

“I was just in the lab,’ Lena muttered into the phone, turning away from the room, ‘working on that project…”

There was a pause, and then when Kara spoke, her voice was also hushed.

“You’re working on … _that_ … at _work_?’

Lena wondered if Kara was also at work. She pictured Kara in a hallway at CatCo, curled into a corner, trying to disappear in the wall because there was never going to be enough privacy for this sort of conversation.

“This _is_ where my lab is,’ Lena laughed. ‘I don’t have some secret room at my apartment I can work in, you know. Although,’ she added, nodding to herself, ‘that isn’t a bad idea. Panic rooms are a great investment.”

“ _Lena_ ,’

“Why are you calling me?’ Lena laughed, taking pity on her and changing the subject. ‘Not that I don’t love the sound of your voice, but shouldn’t you be zipping past my assistant by now?’

Kara had her little rant about Snapper Carr, which was usually the way she started talking about work these days. Lena knew by now these little bouts of irritation were only fleeting, and suspected that deep down Kara actually might really respect Snapper. He was hard on her, but was clearly making her a better reporter. But Lena knew better than to say anything like that to Kara, and as she predicted, soon enough Kara let out a sigh and muttered an apology.

“Anyway, long story short, he wants three new stories this week. No-one else has to do three! But this isn’t why I’m calling,’ she chuckled. ‘I just wanted to know if you wanted to get lunch.”

“It’s eleven thirty.”

“I’m starving.”

Lena rolled her eyes with a smile, then felt an idea burst forth. “How about we kill two birds with one stone? Come here, and we can go get some food… after I give you a tour of the lab.”

Kara made a muffled, surprised sound; Lena wondered if she was already snacking on something. “Are you serious?”

“It’ll be quite the exclusive. No-one else in the city will have access like this. If a piece like this doesn’t finally get you a desk, or at the very least Mr. Carr off your back for five minutes, then I don’t know what will.”

This, and the added incentive of Lena shouting her as much Indian food as she wanted, had Kara over at the L-Corp building in five minutes. Lena barely had enough time to get back up to the lobby to meet her. She had just shuffled out of the elevator, her tight skirt preventing her from taking long enough strides, when Kara walked in, hair blown but looking excited.

Lena had to resist the urge to take her hand as she greeted her, and gestured for her to follow. There were many people mulling about in the lobby, and the tabloids were always sniffing about, looking for exclusives. There were already enough rumours going around about Lena’s love life – or lack, thereof. And she didn’t want to drag Kara into it; it would throw her under a spotlight. It was too important for her to remain as anonymous as she could.

The L-Corp laboratories took up three levels. Lena didn’t show her the lowest level; that one really was top secret. And as much as she cared about and trusted Kara, there were things under development in there that she wasn’t ready to show anyone. But the middle level was all about the bio research, and the top level, the level she was showing Kara now, was devoted to developing technologies.

“This is where we made that alien detection scanner,’ Lena said, leading a curious Kara around the benches full of half-built gadgets, Bunsen burners under bubbling liquids in beakers, and computers.

Lena stopped suddenly. Kara almost walked into her. “Hey… you came up negative on the scan. How did you do that?”

Kara smiled, shrugged and adjusted her glasses.

The ballpoint pen danced across Kara’s notepad as she took notes on every gadget Lena stopped to show her. A few of the scientists and lab technicians looked a little suspicious, but Lena only had to look at them a certain way for her intentions to be clear – if Lena was personally showing someone around the lab, it was someone who could be trusted, and they needed to mind their own damn business.

Once Kara had three pages full of notes, Lena quirked a finger and whispered, ‘Come this way.”

Lena led her through to the lab she had been working in until Kara’s phone call. The four lab technicians she had left in there were still working away, and all looked up with the two women entered. Lena quickly asked to have the room for a few minutes, telling them to go have some lunch. They left without protest.

“They’re students from Metropolis,’ Lena smiled. ‘We do internships. I’m trying to re-establish a good relationship with Metropolis… after everything.”

Kara put a hand on her shoulder. “From what I heard, it’s working.”

Lena squeezed her hand, and cleared her throat. “Well, anyway… look.”

She took the two, shiny metal cuffs from their plastic brackets and held them out for Kara to look at. Kara peered down at them, over the top of her glasses.

“What are they for?’

“Well,’ Lena started slowly, ‘they’re for you. If you’re still open to it.”

Kara looked back at them with a renewed, bashful interest. “How do they work?’

“It’s technical, but basically they’re meant to emit a feint radiation that will affect your cells, sort of blocking off your powers. See here? I had the formula and ingredients sent over from Tokyo.”

“ _Do_ they work?’

Lena pursed her lips. “I haven’t really had a chance to test them, but according to the math they should.”

“What will it feel like?”

“Hopefully nothing, but you might feel a little more fatigue than usual.”

Slowly, with a timid bite of her bottom lip, Kara held her arms up, wrist turned upwards. Lena looked at her, checking to make sure she was okay, before carefully placing one cuff around Kara’s wrist. She clicked it into place, pressed the button on the side, and a little red light flickered into life.

Lena instantly looked up at Kara’s face, to gauge her reaction. Kara was looking down at the cuff, but she didn’t seem to be in pain, which was already a good sign. Not that Lena thought she was going to hurt her – she had done the calculations over and over before even attempting to make the cuffs – but there was always some sort of unaccounted for variable in the early stages of these things.

“Feel alright?’

Kara reached out and took Lena’s hand, and squeezed.

It was like having her hand slammed in a car door. Lena let out a hiss as pain shot up her arm from her fingers. Kara instantly let go.

“I’m sorry!’ she said, appalled. ‘I’m so sorry. I just wanted to test… _Lena_ … ”

“No,’ Lena groaned through gritted teeth. She shook her hand, trying to send blood rushing back to her fingers. ‘That was good. I need to recalibrate... do some alterations…”

“Are you okay?’

“I’m fine. Look,’ Lena showed Kara her hand. ‘See? No real harm done.”

Kara had an odd look on her face. She frowned at Lena, but her eyes looked out of focus.

“Are _you_ okay?’ Lena asked, feeling concerned. For good measure, she took the cuff off quickly and moved them away. ‘Are you having a reaction? There’s chemicals in it that are meant to alter…”

“I’m fine,’ Kara responded flatly.

Lena was not at all convinced. She took a quick glance around, to make sure no one was looking, and then took a step closer to Kara.

“You didn’t hurt me, I promise.’ She whispered, placing a hand on her arm. When Kara’s expression didn’t change, Lena tried a different tactic. ‘Should we go get some lunch now?’

Kara finally looked up at this. Her face was still expressionless, like she was off in a daydream. But she blinked slowly, and some life seemed to come back into her eyes.

She smiled, put a hand at the small of Lena’s back, and pulled her forward so suddenly, Lena crashed into her softly.

“Sound’s great,’ Kara smirked.

 

\-----

 

It was later that night, and Lena was still at the office.

The only time she had left all day had been to take Kara to out for lunch. But even that had been short lived, because she’d received one of her emergency calls just as she was digging into her Rogan Josh and had to, quite literally, rush off.

Lena had watched her run off in one direction down the street, and then seconds later seen Supergirl fly off in the other, and smiled like an idiot to herself. She never got tired of watching her do that.

She had gotten the rest of Kara’s meal boxed up, and brought it back to the office, where it was currently residing in her bar fridge in the corner.

Thinking about Kara was almost enough to distract her from her work, especially at such a late hour. The feel of her hair, and the taste of her skin was still fresh in her mind, and it would have been so easy to give in and let the memories of their most intimate moments wash over her. But Lena was working the blueprints for the cuffs she had built for Kara. She had been sure they were going to work. Everything had been deigned to her specifications. The only issue she could see was the core materials.

Kara had only one weakness – Kryptonite. So it was a natural conclusion that this was what she would need in order to cause the dampening of Kara’s strength. But Kryptonite was extremely difficult to come by (for obvious reasons; she had her brother to thank for that) so she’d had to improvise. It had been a stroke of luck, finding the formula at her subsidiary in Tokyo.

At least she thought it had. Which is why she was now checking calculations and wiring, double and triple checking them for where she could have gone wrong.

But thinking about the cuffs reminded Lena of why she was building them in the first place, bringing her thoughts back around again. It reminded her of all those times she had Kara pressed up against a wall, or when she was lying underneath Kara on her couch as Kara’s hands and lips explored her body…

“This just in…’ came the announcement from the television. Lena liked to have the TV on, it was white noise and helped her concentrate. ‘… we’re going live to the scene, where Supergirl is confronting this new threat…’

Lena looked up, train of thought derailed. She turned the volume up and watched as the camera turned, and showed Supergirl zooming around three identical aliens.

Before she knew it she was on her feet. Lena walked around her desk until she was right in front of the screen. She put a hand over her mouth to stop herself chewing her nails, as she watched Kara doing her thing.

They were in the financial district. There was plenty of destruction already; clearly the aliens had been there long enough to make their impact. Kara was impressive as ever. Lena felt a momentary flare of that old adrenaline rush she used to get; when she’d watch Supergirl do her thing, not even realising that she was the same, awkward, shy girl she’d also been crushing on ever since she’d first walked into her office.

The three aliens were fast, zooming around and crashing into things. But as fast as they were, Kara was faster. Her cape flayed out behind her, her hair billowed as she punched, and kicked, and threw, and shot beams at the aliens.

Lena felt something prickle at the back of her mind as she watched the fight. Something was off, but she couldn’t tell what it was right away. But as she watched, she could see. Despite the fact that Kara was outnumbered, she was stronger than all of them. But the fight was taking a while to conclude, and Lena slowly began to see why – Kara wasn’t trying.

She was _playing_ with them.

Kara picked two of them up. She flew up into the air, and after floating for a second, she threw them back down onto the ground. Then she swooped in and did it again. And then she grabbed the last one, swung it around by the ankles, and let it go flying into a building.

Lena frowned as she watched. What was she doing?

All too soon, the black DEO vans pulled up. Kara landed, grabbed all three aliens at once and slammed them down again at their feet with a laugh. She then pushed off the ground and disappeared into the sky.

Lena watched the report for a few more moments, before she heard a thud behind her. She whirled around, and Supergirl swaggered into her office from the open window.

Kara smirked, and pointed at the TV. “I knew you’d be watching.”

“Are you alright?’ Lena crossed over to her.

“Please,’ Kara chuckled. ‘Like those three were even a challenge.”

“Shouldn’t you have stayed?’ Lena asked. Kara had already closed the distance between them; she had her arms around Lena’s waist. ‘The DEO might have needed your help to contain them.”

“They don’t need me,’ Kara pulled Lena in closer. ‘But I needed you.”

Lena shivered under Kara’s gaze. She had never looked at her that way before – like she was already undressing her with her eyes. It sent a jolt of arousal through every inch of Lena’s body, but something was still nagging at the back of her mind.

“Kara,’ she murmured, as Kara leant in for a kiss. ‘Are you sure…”

“I told you I’m fine,’ Kara snapped.

Lena flinched at her tone. Kara let her go and stepped away, looking frustrated.

“You know,’ Kara began, throwing an arm out in emphasis, ‘I had a really crappy afternoon, and Snapper Carr still gave me hell for pursuing an article that he didn’t approve, and I just saved the city for the millionth time…. And I just came here, thinking you would be willing to help me take my mind off it – off everything – for a bit. But no. That’s not enough for you, is it? You want me go to back out there and risk my neck _again_?”

“That’s not it at all,’ Lena frowned. ‘Kara…’

“Just forget it,’ Kara turned on her heel and headed for the window.

Lena followed her out. Kara’s knees bent as she prepared to launch up into the air; she stopped when Lena’s hand squeezed her shoulder.

“I have to go,’ Kara said flatly.

“I’m know,’ Lena said. ‘I’m sorry.”

Kara considered Lena for a moment. Then she turned, and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Lena blinked, feeling confused as Kara shot off, leaving nothing but a gust of wind and a tingling feeling left from the kiss on Lena’s brow in her wake.

 

\-----

 

When Kara came by again the next day, Lena actually dropped her pen on the floor.

She’d been in a meeting with two of her interns, making notes on their reports and discussing what they had planned for their funding allotments for the next three months, when the door to her office had swung open and two people had walked in.

Well, one had walked. Her assistant had run in, hot on Kara’s heels.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Luthor, I told her you were in a meeting…”

Kara was dressed in a tight-fitting, maroon dress. Her hair was up in a slick bun that would even rival Lena’s. Her shoulders were back, and her expression was so focused that Lena was worried the others would recognize her as Supergirl. Her demeanour was very similar to the powerful energy she exhumed when she was in uniform; not the shy, softly spoken reporter persona she usually projected.

“It’s okay, Jess,’ Lena said, getting to her feet. ‘Michael, Natalie, lets resume this discussion this afternoon, shall we?”

Once everyone had left, shutting the door firmly behind them, Kara smirked and crossed the room in long, slow strides.

“How are you feeling today?’ Lena enquired, trying to keep the squeak out of her voice.

“Great,’ Kara smiled.

“Look, I’m sorry about last night. I hope you didn’t think I was being insensitive. I just know how you need to see things like that through.”

She let her handbag slide from her arm, and made her way around the desk. Lena laughed softly as Kara moulded herself against her. She wasted no time in putting a knuckle underneath Lena’s chin, and softly tilting her head back to expose her neck.

“Kara,’ Lena began.

But Kara’s lips were on her throat, and she was kissing and sucking, and her teeth grazed against the edge of her jaw so softly that Lena forgot what she was going to say.

“You,’ Kara whispered in her ear, ‘are so sexy when you’re bossing people around.”

“Well,’ Lena croaked, her voice cracking as Kara bit down on her earlobe, ‘I _am_ the boss.”

“I suppose that means you think you’re in control?’

Lena gasped as Kara spun her around and pressed her up against the desk. Lena’s skin erupted in goosebumps as Kara’s hands roamed freely, brazenly, over her body like never before. Kara’s breath was hot in Lena’s ear; Lena could feel her smirk as she splayed her hands across her stomach, just below Lena’s chest.

“ _Kara_ ,’ Lena tried again, ‘I though you didn’t…”

“I do.”

Lena’s breath hitched, and her eyes squeezed shut as she felt hands slide lower, and Kara’s tongue run up her neck. Her entire body was shaking with arousal. She wanted nothing more than to let her head roll back and let Kara do whatever the hell she wanted; to let her hands explore and find their mark.

But that feeling, that sense that something was off, was nagging at the back of her mind again.

“I’ve wanted to for a really long time,’ Kara whispered in her ear.

Lena turned herself around. Kara grabbed her by the hips, almost too tightly. A dull pain from the pressure of Kara’s fingertips surged through her. Lena knew she shouldn’t have enjoyed it so much. She knew something wasn’t quite right. But Kara was kissing her with a hunger she’d never displayed before. She was talking control for the first time, and as much as it usually sent jolts of arousal into every sinew when Lena was the one to have the most powerful woman on earth quiver beneath her, it was an entirely different experience to be the one at her mercy.

“Kara,’ Lena whimpered when she felt fingers rising higher and higher up her thigh.

“Hmm?’ Kara chuckled in her ear.

“We can’t… not here…”

“Like we’ve never done this here before.”

Lena put her hands on Kara’s shoulders and pushed her back with more force then she was used to. Kara was normally so responsive to any type of negative body language. Kara put up only a little resistance, but it was enough to make Lena frown.

Kara pulled back and sighed. “Let’s go somewhere else then.”

“What?’

“You wanna go to Paris?’ Kara’s eyes lit up with excitement. ‘A deserted island in the Pacific Ocean? Some remote beach we can have all to ourselves? I can fly us anywhere right now.”

“I have two private planes that can fly us anywhere,’ Lena chuckled. ‘But we can’t just leave. I have a mountain of work to do. And what if there’s an emergency, and Supergirl is needed?”

Kara stepped away completely with a huff. Lena quelled the disappointment in her lower regions as she watched Kara frown, fold her arms over her chest and stare out the window at the city beyond.

“Don’t I ever get a day off? Don’t I deserve that?’

Lena smoothed her clothes back into a respectable condition and moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with her friend. “I don’t think that’s how being a hero works.”

Kara exhaled forcefully, nostrils flaring. Lena turned to look at her properly, feeling confused. Kara looked angry.

“Hey,’ Lena put a hand on Kara’s arm. Her muscles were tight; it was like touching marble. ‘Kara, is something bothering you?’

Kara looked down at Lena’s hand, then back up into her eyes. Lena could have sworn she saw a flash of red, but it must have just been a reflection of the light against her glasses.

“How are those cuffs coming?’ Kara asked.

“I’m still going over the numbers,’ Lena replied slowly. The nagging feeling at the back of her mind flared up again, like there was something she was meant to be remembering but she couldn’t figure out what.

‘Too bad,’ Kara drew Lena in again and, almost too painfully, gripped her by the waist. ‘I was looking forward to trying them out again soon.”

Kara’s phone rand at that moment. She detached herself from Lena with an annoyed grunt, looked at who was calling, and then – to Lena’s great surprise – crushed it in her hand. The glass smashed and the plastic splintered like tissue paper in Kara’s fist.

“Kara!’ Lena gasped.

“I have to go,’ Kara snapped.

Lena just watched in shock as Kara gathered up her bag, and without another word stomped out of the office, slamming the door with such force behind her that Lena heard something crack.

Later on that night, when Lena was out on the balcony with a glass of wine and staring up at the sky, she overhears the headline again on the television in the living room. She rushed inside when she heard someone shouting “Supergirl did this!”, and felt her stomach drop as she listened to the live news report.

There was a short, rough-looking balding man in a crinkled shirt looking right into the camera. He was glaring, pointing, looking very affronted. And Lena felt dread flood through her as she read the name underneath.

Snapper Carr.

“Mister Carr,’ said the reporter importantly, ‘are you saying that Supergirl did this?’

“You’re damn right she did,’ Snapper growled. He pointed above him. ‘She hung me from that street light! I could have died! She just swooped in and grabbed me for no reason! Kept babbling on about how I treat my reporters!”

Lena didn’t hear the rest. Blood was rushing in her ears, drowning it out. The reporter was talking, his mouth moving, while old pictures of Supergirl flashed up on the screen; they were reflecting on another time when Supergirl had gone rogue, affected by some sort of brain altering material that had never been identified.

It hit her, all in a big rush that knocked Lena back and forced her to sit down on the couch. She felt sick. Her stomach churned as she realised what was happening and how it had happened.

What had she done?

A million thoughts flooded through her mind, one after the other. Calculations and formulas and hypothesis that all boiled down to one, inevitable conclusion.

She had done this to Kara. It was all her fault. The cuffs… the substance she had used…

Lena was on her feet again. She rushed back out to the balcony for her phone, almost dropping it over the side in her haste to grab it.

She unlocked, hesitating for a long moment before dialling the only number she could think to dial.

Her hand was shaking. She knew what was going to happen after this phone call, and yes, it scared her. But Kara was more important than her fear, she knew this. And this thought alone was the only thing that pushed her over the edge, and got her fingers moving.

The phone rang once, twice, and then…

“National City police department, how may we direct your call?’

“Yes, hello… I need to speak to Detective Sawyer.”

“One moment please,’

Lena was fairly sure she didn’t breathe at all as the hold music played in her ear. It was, ironically, the theme song to Cops. And at any other time, Lena might have actually laughed.

The phone dialled again, and then a soft grunt said, ‘Sawyer.”

“Detective,’ Lena cleared her throat. ‘This is Lena Luthor.”

There was a pause.

“Oh, hello,’ Maggie said, not feigning her surprise at al. ‘What can I do for you?’

Lena bit her lip. “I need to get in touch with Alex Danvers.”

 

\-----

 

Kara Danvers swaggering into her office was one thing.

Alex Danvers storming in was another.

Lena jumped to her feet as soon as she saw her. Alex completely ignored Jess, Lena’s assistant, and crossed the room in four long strides.

“Miss Luthor…’ Jess sighed, looking exasperated.

Lena said nothing; she didn’t even take her eyes off Alex. She just waved a hand, dismissing her. Jess let out another sigh, and excused herself silently, shutting the door behind her.

Later on, Lena would remember to give Jess a nice big bonus for dealing with the Danvers sisters. But right now all she could focus on was the murderous look in Alex’s eyes.

“Maggie said you had something to talk to me about?’ Alex began cooly. ‘About Kara?”

Lena came around the other side of her desk reluctantly. “Have you been in contact with her today?

Alex looked suddenly a little awkward. “She hasn’t returned any of my calls.”

The tense silence went for too long, and Lena knew Alex was too good at her job, and too stubborn, to be the one to crack first.

“Look,’ Lena linked her fingers together and took a tentative step forward, ‘I’m just going to be frank. Kara will probably kill me for doing this but there’s more important things going on right now.”

This got Alex attention. Her back straightened.

Lena sighed. “I know. About Kara.”

It took every ounce of willpower to keep stand her ground as Alex took a step toward her.

“What about Kara?’ Alex growled.

Lena just raised her eyebrows, and Alex’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ve known for weeks,’ Lena put her hands up, defensively, despite herself. ‘Ever since I moved here, Kara and I have become… very close…”

Alex rubber her eyes. “I don’t believe this.’

“I’m sorry, I know how protective you are of her and of her secret. And I don’t blame you. I’m a Luthor and there’s history, and it’s an enormous thing on its own, let alone me knowing about it. But that isn’t why I called you here. I think something is wrong.”

Alex looked back around, and Lena could see the concern in her eyes. “What makes you think that?’

Lena could tell from Alex’s too-even tone, that she had noticed it too. “Aside from that incident with Snapper Carr? She was here earlier. She was… not herself.” When Alex said nothing, Lena sighed and, as slowly and calmly as she could, added, ‘I think she’d been exposed to a substance.”

“What kind of substance?’

“You might want to sit down….”

“I prefer to stand.”

Lena cleared her throat. “My laboratory has been developing a technology, designed specifically to… dampen alien powers. Not permanently, and not completely, but just enough to bring them back down to a human level.”

Lena could see the muscles in Alex’s jaw clench.

‘I…’ Lena paused, pulling herself together, ‘… took Kara down to the lab, to give her an exclusive for work, but also to show her the cuffs. She tried them on, but I believe she may have had a reaction to the chemicals encased inside the titanium…”

Alex was in front of her in one, swift movement, and Lena was sure that Alex was going to hit her. But she didn’t. Alex got right in her face, arms clenched at her side.

“ _What kind of substance_?’ she barked again.

Lena swallowed hard. “It’s meant to be a replication of Kryptonite. A subsidiary of mine in Tokyo bought out Lord Technologies, and had the formula Maxwell Lord had created to… to replicate…”

“Red Kryptonite.”

“I believe that’s what the press called it.

“Do you have any idea,’ Alex snarled, ‘what you’ve done?”

“Yes,’ Lena nodded. ‘Yes I do. I know what happened the last time. Which is why I’ve called you.”

Alex exhaled slowly, her nostrils flaring, and when she finally stepped away and turned her back to Lena, Lena felt as if her knees were about go out from underneath her. Lena watched Alex’s shoulders roll as she put her hands on her hips, clearly trying to control herself.

“I knew something was wrong,’ she said finally. ‘She’s been aloof. Mean. That’s not my sister. And then she kept snapping at everyone, and this thing with her boss… I should have realised…”

“I want to help.”

Alex whirled around. “I think you’ve done enough. I’ll take it from here.”

Lena moved forward as Alex headed for the door. “What are you going to do?”

“We’ve handled wayward Kryptonians before,’ Alex paused before continuing, her voice a little shaky, ‘we can do it again.”

“You tried that the last time, and look what happened! Kara almost levelled an entire city block, caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, hurt people…”

“What’s your point?”

“I can get them to work.”

Alex stopped short of the door, and looked back around with an incredulous look.

“The cuffs,’ Lena continued. ‘If we can get them on her, it’ll be enough to pacify her and…”

“You want me to use the same equipment, that put my sister in this mess in the first place, on her again? You’re out of our mind.”

“I can fix them,’ Lena urged. ‘They’ll work long enough for the DEO to bring her in and cure her. I just need to readjust the settings, and... well, access to some _actual_ Kryptonite…”

Alex laughed bitterly. “You really are out of your mind if you think I’m going to hand over Kryptonite to you.”

Lena straightened up, feeling a surge of anger. “Because I’m a Luthor?’

“Yes,’ Alex stormed back over to her. ‘Because you’re a Luthor, who was developing technology to subdue Kara, to make her vulnerable…”

“Which might very well now be the only hope we have of stopping her,’ Lena retorted. She took a deep breath, and reminded herself of the real issue. ‘I know how this looks, but it’s not what you think. Kara knew about the cuffs. I discussed them with her before I even built them. I would not have done anything like this without her permission. And when she’s back to normal, you can ask her that yourself.”

Alex folded her arms over her chest. The scepticism was still plastered clear as day all over her face, but the fact that she was listening encouraged Lena to continue.

“Let me fix this,’ Lena urged.

“We don’t even have access to Kryptonite,’ Alex said flatly. ‘Superman took all our reserves.”

“So call him. Surely he has a phone? This is important. We don’t need much, just a few hundred grams, and you can give it back to him when we’re done.’ Lena held her hands out, as if pleading. ‘Let me modify them. If I can supplement authentic Kryptonite into the core, I can augment them into the cuffs in my lab…” At Alex’s look, Lena added, ‘Come and see for yourself. I can show them to you. You can take them back to the DEO if you don’t trust me. But I built them, I know them, and I can fix them.”

“We have restraints.”

“That she will recognise as DEO issue, and will assume as a threat.”

Alex considered Lena with a steely gaze for a long time. But Lena was losing her patience.

“Look,’ she said, exasperated, ‘trust me, don’t trust me… I don’t really care. But I do care about Kara. The longer we wait, the worse the effects of this are going to become.”

This seemed to be the right words. Alex’s expression softened, ever so slightly.

“If I let you do this…’ she began slowly

“You have to. I’m the only one who can get close enough to her to put them on.”

“Wait a second, you don’t think I’m going to let you just…”

“There’s no one else.”

Alex’s eyebrows rose so high they almost disappeared into her hair. “I’m her sister.”

“And I’m her… friend.” Lena pursed her lips, smothering down her emotions before continuing. ‘She won’t expect it from me. She knows you work for the DEO, and that you’ll be trying to stop her, but me… I’m a neutral player. I can get close enough.”

“No,’ Alex waved a hand dismissively. ‘There’s no way. You may be the CEO of a global empire but you’re also a civilian. I’m not putting you in that situation.”

“You’re not putting me anywhere, I’m volunteering.”

“We have other people. J’onn… Winn... Mon-El…”

“All associated with the DEO, which Kara will see through in a second.”

Alex made to turn away again; Lena grabbed her arm, pulling her to a halt. Alex looked down at Lena’s hand in genuine surprise, then back up at Lena herself, and Lena hoped the steely expression she usually wore when trying to stare people down was just as prevalent now.

“I can do this,’ she insisted. ‘I need to do this. Let me fix it. Let me help her.” When Alex said nothing, Lena rolled her eyes. ‘If you have a better, and safer, idea, then please…”

Alex squared her jaw, her lips pursed, and Lena remembered herself and let the older Danvers sister go.

Finally, after what seemed forever, Alex reached into her back pocket and dialled on her phone, her eyes not leaving Lena’s.

“J’onn? I need you to assemble a team, have them come to the L-Corp building.” When she hung up, she took a step aside, and gestured for Lena to lead the way. “Show me these cuffs.”

 

\---------

 

Lena put her phone back on the coffee table with a sigh. “Okay, I sent it.”

“Remember,’ came Alex’s voice in her earpiece, ‘if anything goes wrong, give the signal immediately. Don’t call out for us. I’m going offline now. Kara will be here any minute I don’t want her to hear me, but I’ll still be able to hear you.

“Okay,’ Lena breathed, rubbing her hands together nervously.

There was a pause, and Lena had thought Alex signed off. But then she spoke in her ear, her tone softer.

“You’ll do great. I’ve got you. Just… be careful.”

There was the sound of static, and then nothing.

Lena thought about Alex, hidden behind a sniper rifle, somewhere in a building nearby with the rest of her DEO agents; she thought of J’onn pacing the floor, arms on his hips, because that’s all he had done when Lena had been escorted to the DEO, and she and Alex had told him the plan. 

She was nervous. She couldn’t help it. But somehow, Alex’s last little note of encouragement settled her wringing hands, and focused her back on the task. She could do this. All she had to do was be calm. It was just Kara.

As if hearing her name tapped out in the beating of Lena’s racing heart, Kara landed softly on the balcony. She wasn’t dressed as Supergirl, but she wasn’t dressed in the black Kryptonian outfit Alex had described either, which Lena took as an encouraging sign. Her hair was windswept, and she looked so beautiful in her dress that Lena almost forgot for a moment why she had called her there.

“You’re home from work early,’ Kara smirked as she came inside.

Lena smiled, crossed to the counter and began to pour two glasses of wine. “One of the perks of being the boss... I can give myself the afternoon off.”

“I wish I had that luxury,’ Kara frowned.

 _The angrier she gets_ , Lena heard Alex’s voice in her head _, the worse it gets. Just try and keep her happy long enough._

Lena crossed over to Kara, and handed her a glass, letting their fingers touch ever so slightly.

“You’re here now,’ Lena smiled, ‘aren’t you?”

Kara quirked an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,’ Lena laughed. ‘Am I not allowed to invite you over just because?’

“No,’ Kara’s eyes narrowed. ‘That’s not it.”

Lena hoped to god Kara couldn’t hear her heart pounding away again in her chest. But why would she have any reason to listen that hard, Lena thought, when she knew her poker face was too convincing.

So she just quirked an eyebrow, and took a long sip of her drink. Kara followed suit, downing almost half the wine in one, long mouthful.

“Well,’ Lena finally conceded, ‘you can’t expect to just show up in my office, looking like… that…’ she gestured at Kara’s body, ‘and think you can just get away with leaving again so suddenly.”

“I thought you were going to scold me for what I did to Snapper,’

Lena shrugged. “I’m sure he deserved it. There’s only so far you can push people.”

Kara looked at Lena in slight surprise.

“What?’ Lena laughed. ‘You think I wouldn’t hang people from the rafters if I could? Stockholders… you have no idea…”

Kara laughed, and began talking slow, sultry steps toward Lena. “Tell me more about your day.”

Lena was actually surprised. Kara just sat down at the counter, and waited for Lena to talk. So Lena did. She sat down with her and tried to stall by talking about all the paperwork she’d had to fill out after Kara had left, and how she’d been in a meeting for over an hour to try and sort out one, insignificant problem that her accountant had blown way out of proportion.

All the while she talked, Kara listened with a gaze that wavered; her eyes kept flickering to Lena’s lips, and roaming all over her body. Kara’s free hand was on Lena’s knee, tracing circles over the bare skin that was exposed under the hem of her skirt.

“I had to get out of there after that,’ Lena finished. She glanced at Kara, who’s eyes were on their linked fingers. ‘Sometimes there’s only so much you can take of people needing you all the time.”

Kara looked up at this.

Knowing she had her attention back fully now, Lena added, ‘Except you. I’ll never get tired of you needing me.”

Kara leant in, and Lena felt sure she saw it again – a flash of red in her eyes. It surprised her, when Kara kissed her; she claimed her mouth with a sudden hunger that took Lena off guard. Kara’s fingers were in her hair, and Lena’s mind went blank as her senses were overtaken with arousal.

Kara pulled her to her feet, and Lena moulded herself into Kara’s embrace. It was so easy to surrender to her.

Lena fought against herself, and pulled back slightly. But this just encouraged Kara to refocus her attention, and Lena bit back a gasp as Kara’s lips found their spot on her neck.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what Alex was thinking, watching all this. But there was already too much mental space taken up by everything else, and Lena knew she would have to worry about this later.

“So beautiful,’ Kara murmured.

Lena took two, deep breaths, and pushed Kara away. “Kara, listen…”

“I don’t want to listen,’

“No, Kara…’ Lena pushed her away again as Kara made to continue. She took Kara’s wrist, and pulled it back out from under her shirt.

“What?’ Kara sighed, looking irritated.

Lena detached herself completely, crossed to her bag, and pulled out the cuffs. She turned and held them up, showing them to Kara.

Kara’s eyes widened slightly. “They’re ready?’

“I recalibrated,’ Lena smirked and crossed back over. ‘They’re ready… if you are.”

Kara’s jaw clenched, and her expression began to darken. Lena sensed the shift. She quickly closed the distance between them, and cupped Kara’s chin with her hand.

“You can take them off anytime you want,’ Lena murmured. ‘But this is a good thing. Don’t you trust me?”

Kara put her hands on Lena’s hips, and backed her up against the wall. Lena parted her legs slightly as Kara’s knee nudged between them. But Kara didn’t kiss her, just held her in place, her eyes searching Lena’s face for something.

“I…’ Kara didn’t finish.

“It’s okay,” Lena stroked her face gently. “Trust me.”

Lena felt like garbage as she said it. It was a lie. Kara shouldn’t trust her. Lena was, for the first time, lying to her face. Her beautiful, warm Kara who never lied to anyone…

But this wasn’t that Kara right now. Her Kara would be blushing, stuttering, laughing nervously at just the thought of using those cuffs for the reason they were created. This Kara, who was looking at her now, wasn’t right. She was sick. And this was the only way to get her back.

Slowly, like a flower unfolding, Kara expose her wrists to Lena once again. Trying not to appear too eager, Lena put them on slowly, one by one. They clicked into place, and Lena pushed the button to activate them. It was a tense three seconds. Lena’s brain raced; she tried to smother her panic as she thought of all the calculations and adjustments she’d made. What if the wires short-circuited? What if the Kryptonite inside didn’t activate?

But then the little lights came on, emitting a soft, green glow instead of red.

Kara flinched and let out a groan, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Kara,’ Lena whispered, taking her by the shoulders. ‘It’s alright…”

Kara put a hand over her eyes and staggered backward.

And then there was a soft ‘clink’ as a hole appeared in the window, and Kara cried out in pain and dropped to her knees.

Lena only got a moment to kneel down in front of her, to see the glowing, green dart protruding from her arm, before the door to her apartment banged open, and dozens of agents in all black stormed into the room.

They were on top of Kara in seconds. Lena felt arms slide underneath her armpits, pull her to feet and drag her away slightly.

“Be careful!’ Lena cried, struggling against the agent holding her back. ‘Don’t hurt her!”

Kara, although subdued, wasn’t going to down with a fight. Despite the cuffs (and the extra Kryptonite Lena had imbued them with), and the tranquilizer dart in her arm, Kara cried out in anger. Suddenly, beams of light erupted from her eyes, sending heat vision in every direction. Kara thrashed against the agents trying to pin her down. Two of them went flying. Kara was kicking and screaming, trying to claw out from under them.

Then Lena saw a giant, green alien swoop into the room. He was dressed in black and red, with a flowing cape behind him, almost seven feet tall. He said nothing, and nobody looked surprised to see him except Lena.

Without a word, he crossed over to Kara, ducking her heat vision, and swung his arm around in one, enormous punch. His fist hit its mark, right on Kara’s jaw, and with a sickening crunch she went limp.

Lena’s stomach dropped as watched him pick her up in his arms, and cross back to the window. The agents all stood down, and the one holding onto Lena let her go.

“Wait…’ Lena rushed forward.

“J’onn has her,’ came a voice in her ear – Alex. Her voice was croaky. ‘She’ll be all right.”

“I’m sorry,’ was all Lena could think to say.

There was silence, and then,

“Meet me downstairs.”

 

\------

 

“So… you made these?’

Lena blinked out of her reverie, and looked at Winn. He had had a fit of gallantry, and offered up his seat at his desk to her. Any other time, and Lena might have taken the opportunity ask if he could show her some of the things the DEO had been working on, but she was far too distracted in that moment to even form the words.

She looked at him now. He was standing beside her, turning the silver cuffs she had made, now inert, over and over in his hand. Lena nodded.

“Very nice,’ Winn admired. ‘Titanium?’

She didn’t offer him an answer; he didn’t need one. While Winn kept muttering to himself, admiring the cuffs, Lena chanced another look around the room. One or two agents were still giving her the side-eye.  but not as many as the last time she’d been there a few hours earlier. She understood. Despite Alex sticking up for her, and announcing to the DEO that Lena was there to help, it was no doubt one thing to have an outsider, but for that outside to be a Luthor, and the daughter of the head of CADMUS

Lena suddenly saw Alex appear in her peripheral vision, and she was on her feet instantly.

“She’s awake,’ Alex said. Her relief was evident.

Lena let out the breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding.

“Is she alright?’ Winn asked.

“Bit shaken up, but otherwise okay,’ Alex looked at Lena, and jerked her head. ‘She’s asking for you.”

Lena was hot on Alex’s heels as she followed her through to medical. All the walls were made of glass, so Lena saw Kara long before she actually entered the room. She was sitting up, legs dangling over the side of the bed, her back to her. As they got closer, Lena could see the slump to her shoulders.

Alex knocked on the glass. Kara looked around, and Lena felt her stomach clench. Her eyes were red; not from any reaction this time, but from tears. When she saw Lena standing there, her expression cracked.

Lena wasted no time. She moved around the bed, and without a word put her arms around Kara’s shoulders. Kara melted into her embrace. Lena felt her grip her tightly, hands balling the fabric of Lena’s shirt in her fists as Kara cried silently into her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,’ Kara whispered finally.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Alex told me… if it wasn’t for you…”

“If it wasn’t for me,’ Lena leant back so she could look Kara in the eye, ‘this would have never happened. I’m the one who’s sorry, Kara.”

Lena’s stomach clenched again as she looked at Kara. She was looking at Lena with that old expression of wonder, like she couldn’t believe Lena was real. Lena had never felt more undeserving of anything in her life.

She cleared her throat, and squeezed Kara’s hand. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll let you rest.”

“Lena, wait…”

Turning on her heel, Lena strode quickly from the infirmary. She was halfway back down the corridor when Alex caught up with her.

“You’re leaving?’

“I’ve outstayed my welcome.”

Alex folded her arms over her chest. “I think I owe you an apology,

Lena sniffed, amused. “There’s a lot of that going around today. And you don’t owe me anything. If anything I owe you for helping clean up the mess I made.”

“You redeemed yourself well enough,’ Alex insisted. ‘But that’s not what I mean.”

At Lena’s confused expression, Alex sighed and looked around awkwardly before elaborating.

“I had no idea,’ she muttered, ‘that you two were… well, that you were so close. That wasn’t just an act, was it?’

Lena bit her lip, trying to stop her eyes welling up. She pursed her lips and shook her head, and Alex nodded knowingly.

“I didn’t realise how much she cares about you, or how much you care about her. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have doubted you for a second when you said you wanted to help.”

Lena didn’t know what to say to this. Alex was looking at her curiously, as if still trying to figure her out.

“Thank you,’ Alex said finally, and held out her hand.

Lena shook it with a firm grip. “You’re welcome.”

 

\----------

 

Considering the way they had left things, Lena was surprised when she heard a knock at the balcony door later that very same night.

Lena had been sitting at her counter with a glass of vodka cradled in her hands. At the sound of such a timid knock, she looked around to see Kara standing there. When they made eye contact, Kara gave a little wave and a smile. Lena got to her feet and unlocked the door for her.

“I didn’t expect to see you,’ she said, standing aside to let Kara in.

“I’m just stopping by,’ Kara said regretfully

The edge of her cape brushed over Lena’s ankles as she passed. Kara moved to the middle of the living room, turned, and took her superhero pose – hands on hips, shoulders straight, chin up.

It was formal, like the old days, before they didn’t know the intimate details of each other’s lives. But Lena did know her well enough by now to know that her stance wasn’t because she was angry or upset, she was just feeling awkward.

“How are you feeling?’ Lena asked.

Kara pursed her lips, and tilted her hear from one side to the other, as if weighing it up. “I’ve felt better.”

“You look like you’re off to work.”

“I am, but I just… well…”

Lena quirked an eyebrow. “Are you checking up on me?’

Kara’s businesslike facade melted. Her shoulders slumped and she stepped forward. “Alex told me everything that happened. How you’re the one who came up with the plan to stop me from… getting out of control.”

“I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Guilt churned in her gut again, and Lena let her gaze drop. She stared at the floor for a long moment, before she saw the toes of red boots appear in her line of vision.

“Don’t do that,’ Kara put a knuckle under Lena’s chin, and tilted it upward. ‘You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I had the red kryptonite destroyed,’ Lena burst out. ‘And I called Tokyo and told them to destroy all their stores, and the formulas, and…”

Kara cut her off with a swift, sudden kiss. She pressed in with just the right amount of pressure, and Lena felt her head spin.

“I’m not mad at you,’ Kara insisted softly. ‘You didn’t know.”

“It was a stupid idea anyway,’ Lena shook her head. ‘I was just being selfish.”

“No,’ Kara smiled kindly at her, ‘you were just trying to help. And, hey, I could have told you not to? Honestly… sometimes… I wish I could be with you properly. I wish I could just be normal for a while.”

“You don’t have to be anything less than who you are,’ Lena insisted. ‘I like you the way you are. It was wrong of me to ask you to be anything else.”

Kara smiled at her. ‘I like you the way you are, too.”

“Someone who poisons her friends?’

“Someone who saves them.’

“Yeah, well,’ Lena smiled, blinking the tears out of her eyes, ‘you’re not the only one who can save the day, you know.”

“Who would have thought,’ Kara giggled, ‘that those cuffs would have ended up saving the day?”

Lena couldn’t help it – she laughed. Kara stroked her cheek with her thumb, and Lena felt the knot of guilt unclench for the first time in two days as Kara pulled her into an all-encompassing embrace. Kara’s hug was as warm as her smile, and everything about her was sincere, and Lena thought that if Kara could forgive her, then she could eventually forgive herself.

“So,’ Lena asked as they pulled apart slightly, ‘did Alex say anything else?’

Kara bared her teeth, looking awkward again. “Yeah, uh… about that…”

“I’m sorry she had to find out this way,’ Lena said regretfully. ‘It was your news to share with her.”

“She wasn’t too happy,’ Kara sighed. ‘But she never is when I come out to people. She still thinks the less people who know about me, the better.”

Lena frowned. “You mean, about you being Supergirl?’

“Yeah,’ Kara’s brow knotted too. ‘Was there something else?’

“No,’ Lena shook her head. ‘No, nothing.”

Lena absentmindedly wondered why Alex hadn’t mentioned that she knew about Kara and Lena’s relationship. Maybe, in light of her own experiences, she wanted Kara to at least come to her with that on her own.

Once again, this was something she would consider later; because she had Kara in her arms, and that was all she could really focus on.

Kara suddenly turned her head, hearing something that Lena could not. Her eyes glazed over as she listened, then she blinked and turned her attention back to Lena.

“I have to –…”

“Go,’ Lena finished for her, nodding with a smile. ‘I know.”

Kara took long strides back out to the balcony, with Lena hot on her heels. Kara’s expression was fixed, her posture strong, and Lena knew she was already thinking about the people she had to save.

 _This_ was her Kara; who wasn’t corrupted, or mean. She was brave and strong and caring, and when she lifted off the ground, Lena’s hand shot out and grabbed the tail of her cape to stop her.

Kara looked back around. “What’s wrong?’

Lena pulled her back down, took her face in her hands, and kissed her once.

Kara drifted backward with a dreamy look on her face. Lena smiled at her, and Kara beamed back, before putting her fists up and shooting up into the sky.

As she sat back down at the counter, heart pounding and pulse racing, Lena decide she could add another achievement to be proud of – being good enough.

Not just for Supergirl, but for Kara Danvers.


End file.
